New Year's Eve
by MarenMary93
Summary: 2016 reboot fic. It's New Year's Eve, and an old problem comes around to mess things up for Jack. Scared!Jack, Worried!Mac


**So, we all know that Jack has seen some shit through the years. Let's just go ahead and assume he has some problems.  
This one has a reference to one of my other stories, 'Whiskey'. It's only a weak reference though…**

A loud boom made the air vibrate. A second later, another loud boom made his ears hurt.

Before the third shot, Jack had taken cover behind one of the armchairs in the living room.

The fourth loud bang was about when he realized how his heart raced and how his palms suddenly had went clammy. How his mouth was bone-dry and his hands were shaking like dry leafs.

The shots went on. It wasn't bursts, not real ones… But there had to be multiple guns out there.

Jack reached for where his gun used to rest. He didn't even find the holster. Panicking he checked the back of his dark jeans. Nothing. His hands go for the ankle piece he usually packs. Still nothing.

"Whoa, whoa…" someone called, coming closer. "Jack, relax!"

Jack didn't recognize the voice before two perfectly blue eyes stared back at him.

"Jack? Are you with me?"

Jack trembled with fear as he tried to uncurl from the fetal position. He tried nodding.

"What happened?" Mac asked, but got his answer when some neighbors fired up another set of fireworks, making Jack scramble towards the back of the sofa in an attempt to take cover.

A lightbulb went on above Mac's head, and he understood what was happening.

"Jack, it's fireworks!" He called out, "It's New Year's Eve!"

Jack didn't register what Mac was saying.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

It took Mac nearly 15 minutes before he was able to make contact with Jack again. It wasn't like Jack to act like this.

"What was that?"

Jack didn't answer straight away, he just sat there, hyperventilating.

"Jack…?"

"I don't know…" Jack admitted, still shaking visibly.

"You know what happened?" Mac asked.

"I… I think…" Jack drew a shaky breath, "I think I just had an episode…"

"An episode?" Mac asked, watching Jack flinch as more firework went off outside.

"Yeah…" Jack swallowed hard, "For a while I think I was back in Desert Storm…"

"You were in the Gulf war?"

Jack barely nodded, still a bit out of it.

"You've never told me about that before…"

"Well, let's just say I've tried to forget all about it since '91…" Jack exhaled shakily.

"Okay, I get that…" Mac nodded.

"Hey, Mac…" Jack leaned back against the backside of the couch, tilting his head towards his young friend. "Can I borrow your basement? And a Boomblaster?"

"Sure… Why?"

"This New Year's Eve won't get any better if it starts out this way… And those…"

"Oh… Fireworks. Get it…"

Jack forced a smile.

"Yeah, they…" Jack jumped when someone in the neighborhood lit up more firework. "SON OF A BITCH! Don't they know the fireworks are supposed to start at midnight?"

"Just go down there, I'll bring the Boomblaster." Mac patted Jack's shoulder.

"Hey, sorry for this, bud…" Jack sighed, pushing himself off the wooden floor. "I don't mean to be a buzz kill…"

Mac let out a lighthearted chuckle, "Hey, not your fault. It's comforting to know that you're human too…"

"Yeah, well… I'm going to hide in the basement until this year is over…" Jack grumbled as he started walking towards the door to the basement. "Tell Riley and the others that I would love to join the party."

"Hey, we can all celebrate New Year's in the basement…" Mac reasoned.

"Nah… Where's the fun in that?" Jack countered, jumping as some firework exploded close to the house. "You should have fun up here…"

"Jack…"

"Mac, I'm not that keen on letting all of you see me having a full-blown PTSD episode. You're all gonna think…" Jack didn't finish, just bit his lip as his eyes watered up.

"What do you think we're going to think?"

"That I'm weak…" Jack blinked a few times to clear his vision, "That I'm fragile…"

Mac didn't like the way Jack's voice cracked, or the way Jack's head seemed to be wired this evening.

"Hey, we all know you. Not one of us will believe that you're anything less than badass…" Mac said with sincerity. "Go down there, I'll bring the distraction… And we can discuss how we're going to celebrate once you've calmed down a bit more…"

"Alright…" Jack breathed as he started climbing down the stairs. "Thanks…"

 **Okay… So… HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


End file.
